National Work Life Week is all about rewarding employees

We’ll be the first to tell you how much an Asda for Business gift card can boost staff morale. It’s basically our job. But from 7-11 October our focus, like yours, will be on National Work Life Week.

It’s run by Working Families, one of our favourite HR charities. As well as reminding us not to get too lost in spreadsheets, presentations and endless Skype calls, they’re a brilliant place to get HR resources. Just to let the cat fully out of the bag: we’ve cribbed some of our best ideas from www.workingfamilies.org.uk

You can find free legal advice, HR toolkits, and some really useful research. You’re more than welcome.

But let’s talk less about where our great ‘original’ ideas come from, and more about how to use them to help staff morale.

In the past, some people took a great amount of pride in arriving at the office first and leaving last

Even today, you’ll see emails drop in at some ungodly hour as you squint at your phone with 5am eyes. But this desire to put work above all else hasn’t always been beneficial to our colleagues’ mental wellbeing. Or our own.

So from 7-11 of October, we’ll be running activities to encourage everyone in our office to talk about the pressures they face, and the ways they’d like us to help

And it’s absolutely crucial we hear it from our colleagues, because sometimes they surprise us! For instance, how flexible working can be a mixed bag. Since 2014, if you have 26 weeks under your belt, you’ve been able to ask your company for flexible working.

Which has been supremely helpful for all kinds of people. Not just for hard-working parents, but people whose income needs have changed, people with healthcare requirements, all kinds of people.

Wait… flexible working isn’t all I need to think about?

When is anything ever that easy? When working hours can become part of your evening, it can be hard to draw a line between work and the office. Just one more hour/email/wildly elaborate Powerpoint. And sometimes the ‘Hustle Culture’ that proudly says: “Never slow down”, “Always grind” and “I’ll sleep when I’m done” need to be reminded to scale back.

Similarly, brilliant-sounding initiatives like “Email-free Thursday” can encourage face time and better communication, but the backlog can fill some colleagues with anxiety. What works for some people won’t work for all, as you know. So National Work Life Week is the perfect time to open the conversation and get some innovative ideas.

And when they come rolling in, there are worse ways of rewarding employees than an Asda for Business gift card. Hint hint.

To be fair, for the kind of employees who don’t feel comfortable away from their To-Do list, workplace rewards can be a great compromise. Just remind them that their gift card can be used for ooh… picnic sets, a little wine, delicious brie and some quality downtime.

Maybe that’s us thinking out loud. Don’t judge

Not that staff perks are limited to dreamy afternoons in the park. With over 600 stores, including Asda Living and online at George.com, you can conjure up custom packages to make the most of time away from the office. From fine foods to fun fashion, and homewares to the highest definition TVs around.

Just to give you one more reason to get started, you’ll get a 2.5% discount when you spend between £1,000 and £10,000 on Asda for Business gifts cards. After that, you’ll bump up to 4%, making it even better value to brighten your colleagues’ days.

Building the perfect work-life balance is going to get you happier, more productive colleagues in the long run. If you want them in the short-term too, why not spread the gift card love around?